Written by Mahasweta Devi at the heart of the naxalite movement in West Bengal(somewhere in the late 70s). Read the English translation by Samik Bandopadhyaya . I have never read a HindiBengali translation, but this one was totally in a different league.
Spanning a day in the life of a Bengali mother, it traces her reconstruction of her son’s life and the revolution he had been a part of an died for. Anything that I write here can not substitute for what you would go through as you share Sujata’s journey – a journey in which she goes through her own life and of the life that she had planned for her son and more importantly to piece through facets of her son’s life that her son had so effectively hidden from her.
Along the narrative, the author stays clear of glorifying the revolution and yet at the same time questions the right of society to be dismissive of these young men and women.
Do this. Buy yourself this book.(Not available in most of the crosswords and Oddysseys of the world – atleast not in Hyderabad, I got mine ordering it online from http://indiaplaza.in). I promise you, it will get you thinking.
Thanks Austere(http://austereseeker.blogspot.com) for introducing me to Mahasweta Devi through a blog post.
PS: There also is a movie by the same name by Govind Nihalani starring Jaya Bachhan and Nandita Das amongst others. Read that it had received quite some crititcal acclaim as well.
Stunned, na?
is there an english version ??